The actor gave his first on-camera interview about Gunn's firing to the Associated Press.

Chris Pratt has mostly stayed out of the spotlight since news broke July 20 that Disney was severing all ties with his “Guardians of the Galaxy” director James Gunn. As the actor tells the Associated Press in a new video interview, he made a conscious decision to stay away from the press since Gunn’s firing was such a shock. Pratt appeared as Star Lord in Gunn’s first two “Guardians” movies and was set to reunite with the filmmaker on the 2020 sequel before Gunn’s firing.

“We all love James and he’s a good friend of ours, but we also really love playing the Guardians of the Galaxy,” Pratt said. “It’s a complicated situation for everybody.”

Pratt said “it’s not an easy time” following Gunn’s removal from the “Guardians” franchise. Gunn’s firing was announced just before Comic-Con weekend. Pratt attended the media event in support of his Warner Bros. family tentpole “The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part,” but he told the AP he cancelled nearly all of his Comic-Con press appearances because he was too shocked over Disney severing ties with Gunn.

At the end of July, Pratt joined his “Guardians” cast members to sign an open letter showing support for Gunn and the fans urging for Disney to rehire the director. Pratt published the letter on his Instagram page with a caption saying he was also pushing for Gunn to be reinstated as director. When asked for more thoughts on the matter by the AP, Pratt said the letter and his Instagram caption speak for itself.

“All I know is we put a lot of time, thought, and effort in the statement we released about it,” Pratt said. “I think we all want that statement to be essentially what we have to say about it, and we were pretty clear and honest about how we feel.”

Watch Gunn’s on-camera interview with the AP in the video below. The actor is contractually obligated to reprise his role as Star Lord in “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.” Disney has not yet announced the director who will replace Gunn behind the camera.